I have pretty bad RSI, and I'm looking for some useful apps and the like
to help with it (apart from the obvious....not using the bloody PC ha ha).

I seem to remember reading something in Hotpicks recently-ish, for a Gnome app
G.....something or other that looked quite promising. Now I've trawled through
about 1-2 yrs back issues, and I can't seem to find it. Any Ideas?

To be honest, it doesn't even have to be a Gnome app. I don't care as long
as it helps.

Anything to help with moving the mouse, clicking, typing (e.g. automatically
filling things out for me).

I have a few other questions.

1. Can I set up something, so that I don't have to type my password in all the time !
(I realise that this does have some security implications.....)

2. Or maybe have something like Seahorse/Kwallet remember all my passwords
for me, or set up a key binding to insert my password everytime the PC
asks for it ?

Type which password where? If it's web passwords, most browsers handle that automatically. If you mean your user password when sudo asks for it, you can set sudo to accept you without asking for a password, with the security implications that you mention. If this is a desktop in a location you control, that may be fine, but I wouldn't recommend it on anything portable (I have my netbook set to allow passwordless sudo only when connected to my home network).

2) Switching the mouse side. I'm right-handed, but I often use the mouse with my left hand to give the other a rest. Trackballs are supposed to be better but I've never tried one. Or perhaps a big touchpad like the magic Apple thing -- pricey, but could work well.

3) Stretching exercises. There are loads on the net -- find ones that really stretch and use the muscles and tendons in your arms and shoulders that you wouldn't normally use that way (albeit gently).

@ Nelz
Sorry, I should have been more specific. You're right, I did mean my user password. Cheers.

It is a desktop that I mainly use, so I still want to have to enter a password at startup.
But after that I don't want to have to.

I also use GUFW firewall and that asks for my password when I start it each time I boot up.
So I'd like that to startup and be enabled automatically each boot,
without having to type in my user password all the time.

@ AndyBaxman and Mike
Thanks. I'll look into the trackball, and some exercises.
It's difficult to use the mouse left handed, as its a specifically right handed mouse.

Editing /etc/sudoers will cause any command that uses sudo to run without asking for your password. This doesn't include the initial login, because you're doing that as your user, not trying to run the desktop as root.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." (Albert Einstein)

You pretty much got all the sound advise you'll need, but it's worth emphasising that regular breaks are important in preventing RSI symptoms. That could be even as simple as a regular 5 min coffee break!

+1 on the trackball too, I have a Logitech Trackman for a good few years and so far managed to escape serious injury (although I admit sometimes I forget to take a break and then I do start to feel it in the wrist). And I spend anything from 8-16 hrs a day (!!) in front of the screen! (pathetic really, some would say: get a life! )

re
"It's difficult to use the mouse left handed, as its a specifically right handed mouse."

Long ago an ergonomicist(?) advised me (R-Handed) to switch to mouse on left, and I had the same reaction, and tried it, gave up, then someone else said give it 7 days and then decide, and on the sixth or seventh day it was Hallelujah.

In your case with the Contour you would have to buy a left-handed one, (I believe they make them, I don't know how expensive), but worth considering.

Also make sure your wrist is supported at a height where it is neither arched up or down (at the wrist joint) but I guess you already knew that.

I saw article on this in Lifehacker a year or two back and in googling it nearly every second article seems to mention it for RSI in combination with PC's.

I personally had a lot of trouble with RSI because of my work at the keyboard all day long and then at home for half the night. What my main help was to introduce the Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard plus the then excellent Logitech Trackball which was a large one with the ball being almost exact same size as a Billiard Ball. I still use it from time to time if I find myself getting tired in the wrist area. The other thing that I added to this though at the time to overcome the problems was the use of a "Thermoskin" brace for my wrist. The beauty of it over the normal wrist braces is that it has a steel insert which follows the inside contours of the hand wrist brilliantly and works a dream with the Trackball.

So if you don't get any luck with anything else I would definitely recommend the Thermoskin brace from your local Chemist - currently they sell for around $25 to $30 here in Perth, Western Australia.

If you would like a picture of the brace I am talking about drop me a line at hill.phil@gmail.com and I will forward it to you.

Sorry if I have gone on a bit but I know how it is with RSI, it can feel miserable and very very painful.

That's kinda spooky. I've actually bought a Thermoskin wrist brace
a couple of months back.
It's a bit of a life saver, my only niggle with it is, if you wear it for extended
periods of time it does get a bit sweaty and a bit stinky!
(At the end of the day though, I'd rather have that, than the bloody pain !)

I've actually just been to the hospital today to get some hand splints
(They look fairly similar TBH).